New for 2023, the Fender Custom Shop introduces the Limited ’65 Dual-Mag Strat Journeyman Relic with Closet Classic Hardware—a stunning beauty from bridge to headstock, with special pickups and wiring, gold hardware, a three-ply black pickguard, mother of pearl fingerboard dot inlays and more. Most notably, it wears a beautiful Journeyman Relic finish in Aged Inca Silver, Aged Blue Ice Metallic, Aged Sage Green Metallic and Faded Aged Charcoal Frost Metallic. This finish imparts the look of moderate playing wear, with a fine network of finish checking on the two-piece select alder body and quartersawn maple neck with ’65-style “C” profile, plus a handful of “friendly” down-to-the-wood nicks and dings and Closet Classic hardware that’s only slightly oxidized.

All three Custom Shop hand-wound Dual Mag II pickups (reverse-wound/reverse-polarity middle pickup for hum cancellation in switch positions 2 and 4) deliver high-output vintage Strat tone with enhanced string-to-string tonal balance. Vintage Modified #2 wiring routes the neck and middle pickups to a shared tone control, with the bottom tone control routed to the bridge pickup. Further, the Tone-Saver bleed circuit eliminates tonal loss when the volume control is turned down.

Other premium features include a 9.5”-radius round-lam rosewood fingerboard with 21 narrow tall (6105) frets and a bone nut, five-way pickup switch, Custom Shop vintage synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuners, wing string tree with nylon spacer, deluxe hardshell case, strap and certificate of authenticity.